10 Natural Ways to Boost Your Brain Health

10 Natural Ways to Boost Your Brain Health

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, someone develops Alzheimer’s disease every 67 seconds in the United States. The financial and emotional toll is enormous on the disease’s victims and their families.

There is still much to learn about the cause, prevention and treatment of dementia, but there are some things you can do to keep your brain healthy, sharp and reduce your risk of developing the disease.

1. Eat a Healthy Diet

A healthy diet is the cornerstone for good health. Some specific foods have been scientifically linked to brain health and memory support.

Berries: Harvard researchers at Bringham and Women’s Hospital showed that olden women who regularly ate blueberries and strawberries had slower memory decline (by two-and-a-half years) than people who did not.

Omega 3 fatty acids: A USA Today report cites a study which determined that eating fish high in omega 3 fatty acids may help delay cognitive problems. Fish high in omega 3s include salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, swordfish and herring. To get the benefits, researchers recommend eating oily fish twice a week or taking a daily fish oil supplement.

Green tea: A small study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that green tea may work with the part of the brain that manages working memory processing.

2. Stop Smoking

By now, everyone knows that smoking increases the risk of heart disease and cancer, but it also increases the risk of dementia. According to the World Health Organization, smoking is responsible for 14 percent of Alzheimer’s cases around the world, and second hand smoke may also increase the risk.

3. Be Social

Staying social may help prevent dementia, states the Alzheimer’s Association. They recommend interacting regularly with family and friends, doing volunteer work or joining a book club.

4. Train Your Brain

People who actively use their brains may be less likely to develop memory problems and dementia. According to the Mayo Clinic, performing mentally stimulating activities such as reading, crosswords, word finds or puzzles may delay the onset of dementia and lessen its consequences.

5. Move More

As with nutrition, regular exercise is essential for good health, but it may also give your brain a boost. In fact, exercise affects blood pressure and flow, decreases stress and helps manage insulin – all of which support good brain health. A Union College study determined that practicing “exergames” during exercise can improve specific cognitive skills in adults ages 60 – 88.

6. Manage Blood Sugar

A University College London study concluded that the risk of developing dementia increases in people who have diabetes and mild cognitive impairment. Eating a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight may help manage blood sugar and prevent diabetes.

7. Manage Blood Pressure

Good blood flow to the brain is important for the brain to function optimally. An Associated Press news article reports that high blood pressure is linked to scarring and “white matter” that is related to Alzheimer’s and other dementias. High blood pressure can also lead to small strokes (multi-infarcts) that cause dementia.

8. Take Vitamin D

An AARP article reports that older women and men with low vitamin D levels are four times more likely to develop memory problems. The sun is the best source of vitamin D but due to skin cancer concerns many people do not get adequate amounts.

9. Get Adequate Sleep

Sleep is something few people get enough of these days but getting enough may help improve your memory. A Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center study determined that a good night’s sleep causes changes in the brain that result in improved memory and motor skill performance.

10. Minimize Distractions

Our senses are blasted by cell phones buzzing, texts beeping, music playing, televisions blaring and the demands of significant others, children or bosses. While all these things keep the mind stimulated, they may also throw your mind into chaos. Try carving quiet time for yourself each day. Turn off your electronic devices and meditate, do yoga, take a nature walk or just quietly read a book.

Although most memory problems happen later in life, it’s never too early to begin memory enhancing habits. Practicing healthy lifestyle options now may help you head off major problems later.

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5 Benefits of Pilates for Alzheimer’s

Pilates has a lot of great benefits for the individual, but did you know that it could help those with Alzheimer’s? That’s right, it certainly can, and here, we’ll discuss how pilates can help Alzheimer patients, or those who are at risk for Alzheimer’s in their life.

More Physical and Mental Control

Pilates focuses on one specific element: healing the body through movement. Pilates is a non-impact sort of exercise that teaches people how to have better control of their health and their life. Breathing correctly, using the correct body alignment, and also exact movements are a big part of pilates. By emphasizing the concentration of the breathing with every movement, it brings awareness not just to the body, but it helps with achieving mental clarity.

Movement does heal the body both in a physical and mental sense, and it can be used to help bring life to the body once more, which is a big part of treating Alzheimer’s, or even the prevention of this condition.

Improves Memory

Beginning within our late 20s until the end of our lives, we lose about 1% of the volume of our hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that is a focal part of memory and cognitive function.

What does this mean? Well, it means your brain is literally shrinking.

For a very long time, scientists thought that those with a certain amount of brain cells was a constant, but recently, they have found out that our brains can actually create new cells, which will impede the shrinkage of the brain, which in turn helps us remember actions and help to combat Alzheimer’s. It also means you’ll have better learning, problem solving, and even a higher IQ. What this means as well is that if you do pilates, you can help keep your brain working.

Exercise also improves the neurogenesis of the body, which is the creation of the brain cells, and in turn, it will protect the existing cells, since it will improve the amounts of BDNF in the body, which is a nerve compound that is essentially coined to be “Miracle-Gro for the body and mind. It’s super noticeable, in that you’ll see the differences in learning almost immediately, and you’ll be able to remember so much more.

Train the Brain!

Learning activities are actually a great way to boost your brain. If you learn new activities, you can increase the amounts of the white matter within the brain, which are the fibers your body uses for communication to other parts of the body. If the neurons do have presence there, but they aren’t connecting and transmitting brain information, eventually they’ll die and it won’t help your brain stay healthy, so yes, the white parts of the brain are very important.

That’s why they encourage older individuals to learn new activities. Learning activities are a part of brain fitness, but the thing is, you don’t have to take on some convoluted and complex new hobby just to train the brain.

Exercise alone can help with this, since it teaches the brain to multitask, and in truth, it will not only benefit the mind but also the body. If you automize this, you’ll take out the benefit of the workout in half, and also double the risk of injury. So if you’re intuitive with your exercising, and engaging in pilates, you’ll realize that you’re learning new movements that are challenging for the body, along with the mind.

A Better Functioning Nervous System

Every time we use a certain area of the brain, it sets an impulse through the spinal cord to those muscle fibers that are there. it’s obviously more complicated than that, but it’s essentially that.

When we do voluntarily engage the muscles, such as core activation within pilates, you’ll realize that you’re firing in a chain of movement that may have not been used for a long time. Did you know that you have 29 muscles just in your core? That’s a lot, and we aren’t just talking about the ones to create a six-pack. By learning to use them, it essentially allows you to cleanse the nervous system, and get it to function.

So what can a healthy nervous system do for you? Well, it allows for better communication between both the brain and other elements of the body, as well as releasing the stress-fighting hormones that you have, and also improving your hormones as well in order to have a better feeling about yourself.

Stops Stress

Stress is good to get out of the body, but it’s important to not have it within the mind. If you never address this, you won’t’ be able to create stress relief period. Pilates allows you to tame mental stress into a non-existent sort of fashion, and while it may be a bit strange, mindful movements actually are really helpful for practicing to not feel like you’re stressed out. Pilates allows for the reduction of stress and improved well-being, something that we could all benefit from.

Pilates allows you to embody the ability to handle stress in its tracks, which is a huge thing. Pilates works to help with this, and in a strange manner, it’s a way to help with so many other problems as well.

By learning how to tackle stress, you can use this in order to help you have a better control of your body. In a sense, it’s a mental exercise too, so you’ll feel so much better about this once you get a chance to really take the time to learn about this too.

Remember, it isn’t just the body that can benefit from exercise. Your brain can too, and to prevent the offset of issues later on, it’s important to consider training your brain with pilates.

Pilates is a big part of physiotherapy gold coast, and it’s used to help those who are inured, or those who have stress within the body to feel better about themselves too, and in turn, they’ll be able to combat the effects of Alzheimer’s, and in turn, be able to live a happier and more fulfilling life as a result.

Author Bio: Emily loves to write on issues related to Health. She has been in this industry for 5+ years and specialises in writing educative content on Health. She loves to read trending news to keep her updated!

Some Eye-Opening Facts About Vitiligo Disease

Vitiligo is a disease that makes the skin to drop its color. It strikes between 0.2 percent and 1 percent of characters around the globe. It can happen in people of any community. It’s most notable, though, amongst people with darkened skin, because the distinction between the regular skin color and the white patches that have been changed by vitiligo is more proclaimed. People with a vitiligo experience intensity damage in several regions of bared skin. Some may encounter the blemish in the hair on the scalp, in the mouth, or in their eyelashes or eyebrows.

What Prompts Vitiligo and Who Perceives It?

Vitiligo is the effect of the skin’s melanocytes being damaged. Melanocytes are cells inside the epidermis that create melanin, which is accountable for providing the skin its tone. Vitiligo is usually thought to be an autoimmune disorder in which the body wrongly kills its own melanocytes.

An investigation from the preceding decade more conclusively proves that the immune system admittedly performs a function in how the skin disease produces, according to a 2013 article printed in the Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery.

Types Of Vitiligo

Nonsegmental vitiligo: It is the more general type. Sufferers with nonsegmental vitiligo encounter white patches on both surfaces of the body.

Segmental vitiligo: Segmental vitiligo, on another hand, happens principally in one range (or portion) of the body. About 10 percent of vitiligo problems are segmental vitiligo.

Where the blemishes develop, how extensive the disease is, and how it will progress varies from person to person. Maximum people with vitiligo feel it in many many regions of the body. This kind, described as generalized vitiligo, tends to dispense up symmetrically on both surfaces of the body. Others encounter vitiligo only on one surface of the body or in only a few areas.

Factors Responsible For Producing Vitiligo

Genes correlated with vitiligo: Researchers have discovered that having a specific genetic profile makes people more receptive to receiving vitiligo. Higher than 30 genes have been recognized as connected with the skin disease, two of which are NLRP1 and PTPN22.

Environmental triggers: Vitiligo is the effect of both a preexisting hereditary composition and something in the atmosphere producing an autoimmune response that damages melanocytes. Possible triggers introduce sunburn, susceptibility to specific elements, and involuntary wound. These same triggering effects can produce vitiligo to develop in patients who have previously been diagnosed.

The family records of vitiligo: About 20 percent of vitiligo sufferers have one or more siblings who are or were also affected.

An existing autoimmune disorder: People with an autoimmune disorder, such as Hashimoto’s disease or alopecia areata, are at a heightened danger of growing vitiligo. Approximately one in every four vitiligo sufferers has a different autoimmune disorder.

Symptoms Of Vitiligo

White spots on the surface are the principal symptoms of vitiligo. These patches are more prevalent in regions where the skin is revealed to the sun. The spots may be on the feet, arms, face, hands, and lips. Other well-known spaces for white spots are:

Genitals

Rectal areas

Eyes

Nostrils

Navel

Around the mouth

The armpits

People with vitiligo usually have hair that becomes colorless early. Those with darkened skin may see a loss of coloring inside their mouths.

Will the white spots spread?

There is no method to ascertain if vitiligo will grow. For some people, the white spots do not spread. But usually, the white patches will spread to different regions of the body. For some people, vitiligo spreads gradually, over several years. For other people, spreading happens instantly. Some people have mentioned more white patches develop after natural or emotional tension.

How is Vitiligo Treated?

Therapy may help create the skin look evener. The selection of medication depends on:

The number of white spots

How extensive the blemishes are in actuality?

The treatment the person favors to use

Some medications are not appropriate for everyone. Various therapies can have undesired side effects. Nursing can take a prolonged time, and sometimes they don’t work. Modern therapy opportunities for vitiligo cover medical, operational, and other methods. Maximum treatments are aimed at returning color to the white spots of skin.

Medical treatments include:

Eliminating the color from other regions so they balance the white patches

Surgical treatments include:

Skin scions from a person’s own muscles: The surgeon takes skin from one region of a patient’s body and adds it to another area. This is sometimes practiced for people with little patches of vitiligo.

Tattooing petite regions of skin

Other treatments include:

Sunscreens

Cosmetics or makeup to cover the white patches

Counseling and mental support

What can somebody do to cope with vitiligo?

When you possess vitiligo, you may be shocked or discouraged about the transformation in your image. There are various tasks you can do to cope with the disease:

Find a specialist who understands how to handle vitiligo. The physician should also be a great listener and be capable to give enthusiastic assistance.

Study about the disease and medication alternatives. This can assist you to make choices about your approach.

Chat with other people who own vitiligo. A vitiligo association can assist you to discover a support group. Relatives and colleagues are another references of support.

Some people with vitiligo have discovered that makeups that conceal the white spots enhance their image and help them feel satisfying about themselves. A person may require to examine various brands of hiding beautifiers before determining the product that acts best.

Final Verdict

No matter how severe your problem is, there is always a solution. So, never dishearten yourself as you are not the only one suffering from this particular disease. There are various other persons going through the same. As the days progress, there are advancements to medical procedures as well as therapeutic methods. Therefore, some alternatives are always there to treat the disease you are going through.

This article is all about gaining a solid knowledge about the vitiligo disease. It covers up all the necessities that you require to know about the disorder. Ranging from causes, symptoms and treatment, you will find this piece of writing as your all-in-one guide to the skin illness.

Therefore, going through the article will help you know what you need to know now. If you don’t have any knowledge regarding vitiligo, read this piece of writing now. “Better late than never,” as the popular saying goes. Last but not least, try to maintain a social life as much as possible. It will help you calm your mind and provide you with mental support.

Author Bio – Crystal. A. Miller is a medical writer who writes on different health-related topics. Being a certified medical doctor in Nutrition, Crystal tries to spread her knowledge related to diseases and food. To accelerate the growth and clinical trials, she always recommends Southern Star Research that has a wealth of experience.

Five Things to Do on Your Next Rest Day to Reach Your Goals Faster

How often do you take rest days? Do you ever find yourself afraid to take a rest day, or worried that resting will slow down — or even halt — your progress?

When I first started working out, I was convinced that rest days should be taken as sparingly as possible.

I thought that I needed to work out at least six days a week if I wanted to see any results. I didn’t actually get the results I was looking for working out this way. I just felt tired and stressed out and mentally drained.

Rest days are not just important; they’re essential for you to make progress toward your health and fitness goals. But, what you do on a rest day is just as important as what you don’t do.

Here are five things you ought to be doing on your rest days to ensure you’re seeing maximum results and getting closer to reaching your goals.

Why are Rest Days so Important?

Why do you need to take rest days? What happens when you give your body a break?

When you’re working out, you’re breaking down your muscle tissue. When you rest, your body has a chance to repair itself. During deep sleep, your body produces the bulk of its growth hormone, which is necessary for muscle repair and recovery.

Regular rest days also help you avoid injuries. When you’re regularly over-exercising, you put a lot of stress on your body and are more likely to experience overuse injuries. If you’re chronically stressed, you’re also more likely to experience other injuries like muscle strains and stress fractures.

Rest days also give you an opportunity to mentally recharge. Contrary to what fitness enthusiasts on Instagram will tell you, you need to take a break sometimes.

Burning the candle at both ends will just leave you feeling depleted and increase the likelihood that you’ll give up on your fitness goals altogether. It can also make it harder for you to see progress, which, in turn, may lead to disappointment and increase your chances of giving up on your goals.

How Many Rest Days Should You Take Per Week?

Okay, so rest days are important. But, how often do you need to be taking rest days?

As with many things health and fitness-related, the short answer is that it depends. Depends on what?

The following are some factors that influence how often you ought to be resting in between workouts:

Your specific fitness goals: If you’re training for a bodybuilding competition, you’re going to need to train more frequently than someone who just wants to lose a few pounds. Think about what kind of results you want to see and ask yourself how often you need to work out to — realistically — reach these goals.

The type of workouts you like to do: Generally, a good rule of thumb is to avoid working out the same muscle group two days in a row (at least with the same level of intensity). So, if you work your legs on Monday, you probably shouldn’t work them again until at least Wednesday.

The intensity of your workouts: The more intense your workouts are, the more rest days you ought to be taking. If you only do light mobility work, you can probably get away with exercising more frequently and taking fewer rest days. If you do intense weight-lifting or cardiovascular exercise, you need to rest more often.

Your current health status: If you’re a generally healthy person, you probably don’t need as many rest days as someone who is struggling with a chronic illness or recovering from an injury. If you fall into the latter group, excessive exercise could leave you feeling worse, rather than better.

There are many other factors that influence the number of rest days you need to take. But, taking these guidelines into account is a good starting point.

Five Things to Do on Your Next Rest Day

The following are five things you can do on your next rest day to promote recovery and help you feel more energized and ready to take on your next workout.

1. Go to Sleep

Remember, it’s when you’re sleeping that your body produces the most growth hormone. If you want your muscles to repair themselves, quality sleep is a must.

What does quality sleep look like? Sleeping all the way through the night without interruptions. Waking up after a reasonable period of time (7-9 hours) and feeling rested and ready to take on the day. Falling asleep relatively quickly without a lot of tossing and turning.

2. Move

A rest day is not the same thing as a sit-on-the-couch-and-do-nothing day. While rest is important, you still need to be moving throughout the day.

Going for a walk, stretching, working on your mobility, and foam rolling are all good options that help to loosen up your muscles and minimize soreness.

Remember, rest is important, but there’s a middle ground between being totally sedentary and intense exercise. Shoot for that middle ground so you reap the benefits of movement while still giving your body a chance to recover.

3. Stay Hydrated

Staying hydrated helps minimize muscle soreness and cramps. It also ensures that your body is functioning optimally, which is essential for muscle repair and muscle growth.

A good rule of thumb for water consumption is to drink half your body weight in ounces each day.

I like to add lemon juice and sea salt to my water at least once per day. This helps to ensure you’re getting sufficient amounts of electrolytes, which are needed for your cells to actually absorb the water you’re drinking.

I prefer the lemon juice/sea salt combination to sports drinks like Gatorade, which are typically full of sugar or artificial sweeteners.

4. Eat Repair-Promoting Foods

What you eat on a rest day matters just as much as your activity levels. Eat foods that are known to promote muscle recovery, including the following:

Salmon: Another great protein source that’s also loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which help minimize inflammation and promote cellular health.

Sweet potatoes: A great source of complex carbohydrates that can help replenish muscle glycogen stores and promote faster recovery.

5. Keep the Muscle-Building Signal Going

Finally, if muscle growth and increased strength are goals of yours, you may want to consider doing “trigger sessions” on your rest days.

Trigger sessions promote muscle growth by allowing you to increase the frequency of your workouts. They don’t damage the body, though, because they’re performed at a lower intensity.

If you want to work on growing your shoulders or legs, for instance, you might do a few rounds of resistance band lateral raises or bodyweight squats on your off days to keep the muscle-building signal going with promoting soreness and muscle breakdown.